[fairyclairy]

Hiya,

I am a newbie and am trying to plan what to plant where. I've got a few questions which I hope you can help with as I don't want to just do loads of work and realise afterwards that its wrong. Along east side of my plot there are a few large trees, not sure what ones though. Do you think I will be able to grow anything there because of the roots and the shade? It will shade around a 1/3 of the plot. I was wondering whether I could perhaps put some raised beds in and then some fruit or veg in. But I am curious if anything will grow directly in the soil as one article I read on the internet said that the roots can span up to 3 times the height of the tree :blink: which if this is the case will mean my whole plot will be affected by them. Anyone on here got large trees on or close to their plot? If so what do you do?

Thanks Claire

[Yorkie]

I have very large horse chestnut trees just the other side of the end of my garden and they definitely have an impact on the dryness of the soil for at least half their height.

There are hawthorn trees just beyond the boundary of my plot and their roots probably extend about 3m radius.  I chopped and dug those roots out when I encountered them - one year I was almost weeping trying to harvest my spuds, but (touch wood) haven't had such difficulties in that particular bed since.

The only way you will find out the impact is to start digging.  I very much doubt that the maximum impact will be any more than the height of the tree, but it could well be much less than that.

The shade cast is unlikely to be a significant problem for most plants.  Don't put things like raspberries in as they won't like the competition for nutrients. 

I'd try it for a year without the raised beds, and see what happens in order to plan for next year.